A consortium that includes Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Ericsson and Sony has been given the go-ahead from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to buy most of Nortel Networks' patent portfolio for £2.8bn.

The Rockstar Consortium outbid Google and other rivals last year for around 4,000 patents owned by bankrupt Canadian telecoms giant Nortel Networks. The DoJ’s approval allows the consortium to complete the deal with Nortel.

The consortium’s victory in the bidding war for Nortel Network’s patent portfolio was seen at the time as as a humiliating defeat for Google. However, the internet giant rallied just months later spending £7.6bn to snap up Motorola Mobility and its vast portfolio of 15,000 granted patents and 7,500 pending.The purchase got DoJ approval last month.

Rockstar CEO John Veschi said: ‘We are pleased to emerge from this review process, and are looking forward to working with technology-related companies to provide them with access to Rockstar's technology. The entire industry has benefited from Nortel's groundbreaking innovations, and we are eager to work with them to establish licenses enabling the continued use of this technology.’